Sutton United have time to repair

Paul Doswell is a torn man ahead of a 10-day break enforced on Sutton United.

After Salisbury City’s appeal against their expulsion from the Vanarama Conference was dismissed, all the Wiltshire side’s games have been cancelled.

United were due to face Salisbury at Gander Green Lane this weekend, meaning they are next in action on August 23 at Chelmsford.

Jessie Reindorf’s header in a 1-0 win against Havant & Waterlooville on Tuesday night means United go into that break on a high, but Doswell can see the negatives as well as the positives.

“I’d rather have a winter break than a summer break two weeks into the season,” he said.

“It’s an absolute disgrace, the Conference should never have let it get this far – the fact we’re going into a 10-day break in August is a joke.

“The players will come in on Saturday, but it is hard to keep them motivated when there is not a game of football coming up.”

However, with an injury list that now includes Marvin Williams after the striker limped out of the win over Havant with a recurrence of an Achilles injury, Doswell admitted the break had come at a fortuitous time.

He said: “As much as it’s annoying, we should have a batch of players back in action for Chelmsford.

“Dale Binns, Callum Hart and Alan Julian are all in pre-season mode right now, and they should be ready, and it was good to give Luke Ruddick a run out on Tuesday.”

He added: “We’re gutted about Marvin, although it may not be as bad as we first feared.

“When he did his Achilles last year, he heard it pop, but this time he said that something just did not feel right. He can rest up now, and we’ll wait and see where that leads us.”

Meanwhile, the arrival of Jack Evans on a one-year contract from Tamworth has led to the departure of Lloyd Foot.

Doswell said: “Lloyd was very unlucky. It’s the horrible side of football, he was a work in progress in terms of fitness and I had to tell him we’ve got someone better.”

Ipsoregulated

This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standardards Organisations's Editors' Code of Practice. If you have a compaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then please contact the editor here. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can contact IPSO here